Mark's Gospel
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Mark’s Gospel by Daniel J. Lewis © Copyright 1991 by Diakonos, Inc Troy, Michigan United States of America 2 Preface The Second Gospel is at once the shortest and, at least in the majority opinion of scholars, the earliest. The general concensus is that Mark was written in about 65 A.D., probably in Rome. Even the casual reader is bound to notice that the four gospels are each distinct. Though one early attempt was made to merge the four into a single synthetic account, the Diatessaron by Tatian in about 170 A.D., it has been the practice of the church to keep them separate. Each gospel was composed by selecting narratives, parables, miracles and so forth from the traditions about Jesus. We may assume that inasmuch as they were each written within and for specific communities, the selection of the material in each gospel reflects to some degree the situation of the church in which it was written. In other words, the elements which were selected by the evangelists with which to compose the gospels were chosen because they addressed a need in the community of faith. The selections were intentional, not haphazard. Each evangelist had at his disposal various resources, including the OT in Hebrew and Greek, the oral traditions which had been preserved about Jesus, the written traditions, if any, which had already preceded him, and the eyewitness accounts of those who had personally witnessed events in the life of Jesus. Whether or not there were any written materials at Mark's disposal is debated. Many scholars have conjectured for years that there was a "sayings" source underlying some of the gospels, though usually this source is thought to have been incorporated into Matthew and Luke rather than in Mark. In any case, each gospel presents a unique portrait of Jesus, somewhat different than a biography, at least in the modern sense, and certainly different than a diary or an epic. Instead, each gospel is a literary form that is unique in the history of sacred literature, and each one essentially seeks to answer a single question, "Who is Jesus?" Mark is no exception. His portrait of Jesus begins with the lines, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (1:1), and near the end, he climaxes his account with the exclamation of the soldier at the foot of the cross, "Surely this man was the Son of God" (15:39)! 3 Preface....................................................................................................................2 Introduction............................................................................................................7 Who is "Mark"? .................................................................................................7 John Mark as a Person .......................................................................................7 John Mark as an Evangelist and Theologian .....................................................7 The Origin of Mark's Gospel .............................................................................8 Canonization of Mark's Gospel..........................................................................9 Characteristics of Mark's Gospel .......................................................................9 The General Content of Mark's Gospel ...........................................................11 The Prelude (1:1-13) ................................................................................................11 The Opening (1:1-3) ............................................................................................11 The Gospel (euangelion = good news) ............................................................11 The Christ.........................................................................................................12 The Son of God................................................................................................12 The Prophetic Base (1:2-3) ..............................................................................12 John's Manner and Message (1:4-8) ....................................................................12 John's Baptism .................................................................................................12 John's Manner ..................................................................................................13 John's Message.................................................................................................13 Jesus' Baptism (1:9-11)........................................................................................13 Why was Jesus Baptized? ................................................................................13 Jesus, the Servant-Messiah ..............................................................................14 Jesus' Temptation (1:12-13).................................................................................14 The Great Galilean Ministry (1:14--9:1) .................................................................15 The Good News of the Kingdom (1:14-15).........................................................15 A Busy Day in Capernaum (1:16-34)..................................................................15 The Calling of Four Disciples (1:16-20) .........................................................15 Jesus' Authority (1:21-28)................................................................................16 Jesus' Power (1:29-34) .....................................................................................16 The Galilean Mission (1:35-39).......................................................................17 Jesus' Growing Popularity (1:40-45) ...............................................................17 The Rise of Opposition (2:1--3:35) .....................................................................18 The Forgiveness Controversy (2:1-12)............................................................18 The Worldly Christ (2:13-22)..........................................................................19 4 The Liberal Christ--the First Sabbath Controversy (2:23-27):........................20 The Irreligious Christ--the Second Sabbath Controversy (3:1-6) ...................21 Jesus' Popularity Expands Even More (3:7-12)...............................................22 The Appointment of the Twelve (3:13-19)......................................................22 The Beelzebul Controversy (3:20-30) .............................................................23 The Family Tension (3:31-35).........................................................................24 The First Great Group of Parables (4:1-34).........................................................25 The Parables of Jesus (4:1-2)...........................................................................25 The Sower (4:3-20)..........................................................................................25 The Lamp (4:21-23).........................................................................................26 The Measure (4:24-25) ....................................................................................26 The Growing Seed (4:26-29) ...........................................................................26 The Mustard Seed (4:30-32) ............................................................................27 The Summary (4:33-34)...................................................................................27 Four Miracles (4:35--5:43) ..................................................................................27 The Calming of the Storm (4:35-41) ...............................................................27 The Healing of Legion (5:1-20).......................................................................28 The Healing of a Hemorrhage and a Dead Girl (5:21-43)...............................28 Significant Points in the Four Miracles ...........................................................29 Ministry in and Around Galilee (6:1--9:1) ..........................................................29 The Rejection at Nazareth (6:1-6)....................................................................29 The Mission of the Twelve Apostles (6:7-13).................................................30 The Death of the Baptist (6:14-29)..................................................................30 The Feeding of the Five Thousand (6:30-44)..................................................30 Jesus Walks on the Water (6:45-56)................................................................31 Teaching Concerning Defilement (7:1-23)......................................................31 The Syrian Phoenician Woman's Faith (7:24-30)............................................32 The Cure of a Deaf Mute in the Decapolis (7:31-37)......................................33 The Feeding of the Four Thousand (8:1-13)....................................................33 The Saying About Yeast (8:14-21)..................................................................33 The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida (8:22-26) .......................................34 The Confession of Peter (8:27-30)...................................................................34 Jesus Predicts His Death (8:31-9:1).................................................................34 The Last Journey to Jerusalem (9:2--15:47)........................................................37 The Close of the Northern Ministry (9:2-50) ......................................................37 The Transfiguration (9:2-13) ...........................................................................37